The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the first full-length study of the largest nongovernmental, global regulatory network whose scope and influence rivals that of the UN system. Much of the interest in the successes and failures of global governance focuses around high profile organisations such as the United Nations, World Bank and World Trade Organisation. This volume is one of few books that explore both the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) role as a facilitator of essential economic infrastructure and the implication of ISO techniques for a much wider realm of global governance. Through detailing the initial rationale behind the ISO and a systematic discussion of how this low profile organization has developed, Murphy and Yates provide a comprehensive survey of the ISO as a powerful force on the way commerce is conducted in a changing and increasingly globalized world.

This work examines the international standardization system generally, with a specific focus on some of the bodies within this system. It also questions the lack of definition regarding several features related to the system, notably an international standardizing body and international standards in the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

This book examines the foundations of international standard-setting from a multidisciplinary perspective.

This is one of the first books to draw together information and views about international control of food safety from around the world. Demands for safe food, against a background of increasing trade, are making international controls on food safety essential. Agreements on how to control the safety of food to meet these needs are now in place among the major trading blocks, particularly in Europe and in the USA, and more recently, in Australia. This book also describes progress in areas such as systematically reviewing risk from food; developing national infrastructures to enforce standards; and growing input from consumer groups and others, including economists, to the debate on how to set international food standards. Discussed in depth is the effort to achieve global standards for food safety under the auspices of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. There are chapters from world-leading experts on Codex, international control of radiological contamination, pesticides and veterinary drugs, and other chemical contaminants.

Meet a higher environmental standard with ISO 14000. First ISO 9000 set the international standard for quality. Now ISO 14000 sets an equal standard for environmental compliance--moving beyond mere legal requirements to demand organizations actively manager every environmental aspect of their operations, products, and services. In ISO 14000 Guide, Joseph Cascio--a lead developer of ISO 14000--and environmental management experts Gayle Woodside and Phillip Mitchell arm you with an instant primer to ISO 14000's rationale, importance, and implementation. Step by step they show you how to achieve ISO 14000 recognition. . .forge a workable environmental policy. . .set targets. . .monitor, audit, and correct the program. . .and more. You also get a self-assessment tool, a sample environmental management system manual, and other hands-on resources.

Investment protection treaties generally include, in one form or another, the obligation to treat investments fairly and equitably. This book examines the relationship between this obligation and the minimum standard that can be found in customary international law, tracing the history of both concepts, their differences and similarities.